App.net is going Freemium

App.net was conceived of as a paid competitor to Twitter, to eliminate ads and get users back to the core experience of the service. Paid users now have a limited number of invites to give for new users to get an account for free.

Free App.net accounts will have some restrictions:

Limited to follow 40 people

File space limit of 500mb

10mb file upload limit

Users are able to get additional storage by inviting members and having those members approve third party apps and follow at least 5 other people. Should that happen the inviting user AND the invited users can receive 100mb more of file storage space.

The paid accounts are still available and are available in several options. From the $5 month, to the $36 a year, and the $100 developer option.

How do you think this move will effect App.net? Are you or will you be joining App.net? Give us your thoughts in the comments.